One Between the Stars

Chapter 23

 When they landed on Isphodel, the ship lost it.

Arthre and Carson were in the cockpit, strapped in, and Ionia had been told to go to the seat just outside the cockpit, facing the other way, where there was another seatbelt. Because they knew that this was going to be a rather bumpy ride. And both gallivanter and squire were right.

"Art, stabilize the lifesupport," Carson said.

"I'm trying," he said through gritted teeth, furiously pressing buttons and screens. "But there are some parts that are a wreck, I don't know how much longer it can stay together."

"It'll have to be enough," Carson said, straining to hold the ship steady. The autopilot had taken a beating in the asteroid incident, and now it couldn't be used for landing. "Unload the landing gear."

"Unloading landing gear," Arthre relayed. "Okay, line her up with the runway."

When the Evie touched down with a lot of jostling and a horrifying screech. The men and women working on the runway all covered their ears and dropped the flashing rods they were using to direct Carson. Finally they came to a scraping stop, and the Evie let out one final gasp and seemed to sink in exhaustion.

"A pretty successful landing, if I do say so myself," Carson remarked, unbuckling his seatbelt.

Arthre felt as if he might be sick. When they stepped out of the cockpit, Ionia met them, her olive face the barest hint of green. "How by the stars do you guys think that landing a ship is executed?"

"Normally quite well," Arthre said.

The people that greeted them were absolutely off their rockers.

"Why would you let your ship be treated this way!"

"How did you survive for days at space with those gashes in the oxygen reserve!"

"The poor ship, it's hideous..."

Carson treated them all with the same defensive criticism, which Arthre couldn't blame him for. No one insulted a gallivanter's ship if they wanted mercy.

They all followed the crew that met them as they guided the Evie into a shipyard for repair. Carson made sure it didn't receive another scratch while Ionia and Arthre hung back and watched them all fuss over the spaceship.

"They're really defensive about Evie," Ionia remarked.

"Well, you can't entirely blame Carson. It's like his home."

She nodded, then turned to the squire. "So what's the plan for today? Where can we find a port?"

"We might have to venture around the streets, but likely someone around here will know." He turned back to the ship. "Carson will probably want to stay here."

And he was right; when the Evie had been stationed safely in the shipyard, Carson met back with the other two and let them know that he was going to stay with Evie to make sure that she was well taken care of. Arthre and Ionia told him of their plans to try to find a way to contact Wynoa.

"You want to talk to the planet that thinks you ran away?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow, shouldering his backpack.

"I had a few confidants before I left," she said. "And I said that I would talk to them as soon as I got the chance. I just need to make sure I can't be followed."

So with that, the princess and the squire headed out into the city.

Isphodel, from what Arthre had researched ahead of time, was a giant metropolis that gained most of its wealth from the engineering and producing of micro technology; mostly storage systems and chips to be sold to other places, to then be put into things like ports and computers. The whole place was teeming with technology that Arthre had both seen before and never even dreamed of. Hovers zoomed past on the streets with what looked like mechanical drivers. The towering skyscrapers lit up under the hazy grey sky with fluorescent lights. Even the people seemed to be a part of the technology, with different parts of their bodies replaced by machinery.